IKEA Sales Up 18% In 6 Months

Cosmina CapalĂu

IKEA"s franchise in Romania, located in Baneasa, north of Bucharest, has reported an 18% increase in sales over the past six months. While the ongoing economic crisis is affecting the business and therefore the earnings of numerous companies in many sectors of the economy, IKEA Romania Retail Manager Cornel Oprisan told BURSA that "sales made by the IKEA store in Baneasa between September 2008 and March 2009 increased by approximately 18% from the year-ago period."

Oprisan pointed out certain changes, especially related to consumer behaviour, as a result of the current economic context. "The consumer behaviour has changed in the last few months. People make very solid decisions and are much more attentive to the added value they receive in exchange for their money," Oprisan told BURSA.

• Consumers invest on long-term

"Shopping has become a long-term investment as consumers are more prudent when spending their resources and want to cover as many needs as possible with the budget they have without making any compromise on quality," the IKEA Romania Retail Manager Cornel Oprisan added.

"We have already tried to anticipate this through our business concept, which is to offer quality, functional and good-looking products for a widely affordable price. People who buy from IKEA realize that the plans they make are actually matching on-site facts. The prices stated in the IKEA 2009 Catalogue, which they received home, are maximal, which means that they are valid until 31 August 2009 and cannot increase before then. It is a promise that we make to the customer every year, with each catalogue," Oprisan added.

"Moreover, we have the most extensive warranty on the market for many of our products. All this is part of the way we do business and relate to the customer: the endurance and safety of our products is our business card," he said. According to Oprisan, as consumers are focusing on long-term investments, sales of certain product ranges have increased more than others. The statement is valid especially for kitchen furniture, with comes with a 10-year warranty.

• Cost cuts based on business optimization

As for the current financial situation, IKEA"s Retail Manager told BURSA that "there are several external factors which have become hard to control lately. One of them is the devaluation of the national currency." He stressed that the company"s business model was based on finding ways to cut costs starting from specific solutions to optimize operations, with a view to minimizing the negative effects of the devaluation of the leu.

"This is what we do on a daily basis, starting from the business values built over nearly 60 years of IKEA operations on world markets. Our mission is to offer a better life to as many people as possible. Our objective for this year is to have at least one IKEA product in each home in Bucharest and its surroundings," Oprisan concluded.